John C. Morton

April 08, 2000|Compiled by TIFFANY CASSANDRA HILL Daily Press

WILLIAMSBURG — John Cabell Morton, 79, of Williamsburg, formerly of Charleston, W.Va., died Friday, April 7, 2000, after a long illness.

He was the son of Mr. F.H. and Mary Wailes Morton and grandson of Quin Morton, who were pioneers of the coal industry in the Charleston area. He was born in Kingston, W.Va., and attended West Virginia Tech, and also attended the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro, N.M. He graduated from University of Oklahoma in Norman, Okla., with a degree in petroleum engineering. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Midshipman School in New York and was commissioned as Lt. (J.G.). He then served in World War II aboard the USS Lubbock, a troop transport in the Pacific Theater. He retired from Persinger's Inc. in 1994 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He was a member of the Second Presbyterian Church in Newport News and a former member of the Society of Professional Engineers of West Virginia.

He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Jean Morton; two children, Constance McKee of Newport News and Thomas Cabell Morton of Orlando, Fla.; a brother, H. C. Morton of Amherst; two sisters, Mary W. Sexton of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Sadie Harlan of Hyattsville, Md.; seven grandchildren; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by a son, Jackson H. Morton, in 1995.

The family will receive friends Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. at Nelsen Funeral Home, 3785 Strawberry Plains Rd. A funeral service will follow at 3 p.m. Burial will be on Tuesday in Beckley, W.Va. Arrangements by Nelsen Funeral Home.